An "Essence"-bestselling author spins a hilarious, inspiring novel of mistakes and second chances, heartache and love, sin and salvation--with an appearance by the beloved Sister Betty.

From New York Times bestselling author and Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter comes a thriller that pits former Marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger against the only man who might be able to outshoot him. A marine sniper team on a mission in tribal territories on the Afghan-Pakistan border, Whiskey 2-2 is ambushed by professionals using the latest high-tech shooting gear. Badly wounded, the team’s sole survivor, Gunnery Sergeant Ray Cruz, aka “the Cruise Missile,” is determined to finish his job. He almost succeeds when a mystery blast terminates his enterprise, leaving a thirty-foot crater where a building used to be—and where Sergeant Cruz was meant to be hiding. Months pass. Ray’s target, an Afghan warlord named Ibrahim Zarzi, sometimes called “The Beheader,” becomes an American asset in the region and beyond, beloved by State, the Administration, and the Agency. He arrives in Washington for consecration as Our Man in Kabul. And that brings Ray Cruz out of hiding. Swagger, the legendary hero of seven of Hunter’s novels from Point of Impact to last year’s bestselling I, Sniper, is recruited by the FBI to stop the Cruise Missile from reaching his target. The problem is that the more Swagger learns about what happened in Zabol, the more he questions the US government’s support of Zarzi and the more he identifies with Cruz as hunter instead of prey.

Fresh, tough, and thoroughly addictive, this sparkling debut collection calls to mind the beloved and bestselling works of Lisa Moore, Camilla Gibb, and Mark Haddon. With an irresistible combination of playfulness and empathy, these effervescent, sometimes heartbreaking tales of underachieving adults, unfairly burdened children, and the unaccountably hopeful of all ages explore the moments of grace in lives that are too often defined by loss. A punky young woman comes to terms with the accident that took away all of her family except the grandmother who believes she is a bird, and an aging prospector — a woman — discovers that a physical “curse” might have been something of a blessing all along. “The Indian Act” is a compact coming-of-age story, charting the journey of a boy who, though bounced through many foster homes, holds on to the dream of love and unconditional acceptance; and in the novella “River Rising,” three generations in a small town struggle toward joy despite the accidents of fate and the foolish mistakes that almost, but not quite, derail their lives. Fierce introduces Hannah Holborn as a shining new light in Canadian fiction. From the Trade Paperback edition.

The corpse of the title is that of William Hennessy, a universally disliked teacher at U. S. Grant High School, who turns up dead in one of the school’s science lab. There is no end of suspects, and when Charlotte Hill (Charlie to her friends), the principal of the school, discovers that a group of students has been using the lab to make illegal drugs, and that the newly deceased had been blackmailing these enterprising chemists, there is the hope of a quick solution. However, this hope is dashed when the students admit the drug making, but insist the teacher was already a corpse upon their arrival to meet with him. Suspicion then turns to various others: a recent graduate and boyfriend of a student who has been sexually abused by Hennessy, the school custodian, one of the janitors. When the janitor is found dead in his car the police are happy to call it a suicide and to write finis to Hennessy’s murder, but Charlie has her doubts, and sets about to find the answers. Eventually she does, but not before her life is threatened and the threat almost becomes a reality. 1

From Lisi Harrison, the New York Times bestselling author of The Clique and Alphas, comes a new series with a fresh twist on high school, romance, and the "horrors" of trying to fit in. The monster community has kept a low profile at the local high school, but when two new girls enroll, the town will never be the same. Created just fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein is psyched to trade her father's formaldehyde-smelling basement lab for parties and prom. But with a student body totally freaked out by rumors of monsters stalking the halls, Frankie learns that high school can be rough for a chic freak like her. She thinks she finds a friend in fellow new student Melody Carver-but can a "normie" be trusted with her big secret?

From the concert stage to the dressing room, from the recording studio to the digital realm, SPIN surveys the modern musical landscape and the culture around it with authoritative reporting, provocative interviews, and a discerning critical ear. With dynamic photography, bold graphic design, and informed irreverence, the pages of SPIN pulsate with the energy of today's most innovative sounds. Whether covering what's new or what's next, SPIN is your monthly VIP pass to all that rocks.

A missing boyfriend ... a heavily pregnant girlfriend ... just another ordinary case for QuicK Investigations. But the trail they follow suggests something far from ordinary. Who is Orie Kavlar and why has he gone to ground? What is the connection to the body of a dead girl found on waste ground in Sandyford? And what is his relationship to Darren Wallace, ex-gangland criminal? With their personal relationship at a new all-time low, Sarah and John are straining under the weight of their own problems: like the murder of Sarah's ex-boyfriend Vic. Vic was a dangerous psychotic, but murder is murder. So why won't she accept John's help? In no time John and Sarah's investigations alert others to their search and as they dig deeper into Orie Kavlar's life, one man decides he has too much to lose to allow them to continue. Sarah and John are about to be caught up in an undertow of violence that will suck them into their most perilous case yet.

From the concert stage to the dressing room, from the recording studio to the digital realm, SPIN surveys the modern musical landscape and the culture around it with authoritative reporting, provocative interviews, and a discerning critical ear. With dynamic photography, bold graphic design, and informed irreverence, the pages of SPIN pulsate with the energy of today's most innovative sounds. Whether covering what's new or what's next, SPIN is your monthly VIP pass to all that rocks.